AP: 3 rare lions killed in India sanctuary

[tex-wyo-dem]

3 rare lions killed in India sanctuary

By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press Writer
Tue Mar 6, 1:47 AM ET


NEW DELHI - Poachers killed three highly endangered Asiatic lions in their only remaining sanctuary in western India, removing their claws and bones and raising fears for the future of these rare cats, wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Rangers at the Gir National Park in the state of Gujarat found the mutilated bodies of two lionesses and a cub on Saturday deep within the park, said Bharat Pathak, the park's conservation officer.

Only some 350 of the Asiatic lions that once roamed across much of Asia from Turkey to India still exist, all of them in the Gir park. The killings sparked renewed calls from conservationists to set up an alternate sanctuary.

The poachers left the pelts of the lions, taking their claws, bones and skulls — which are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine — raising fears that a professional gang of poachers was behind the killings, Pathak said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_sc/india_rare_lions_killed

[Eugene]

1. Drowning deaths of Indian lions points to apathy - Reuters

Drowning deaths of Indian lions points to apathy
Wed Mar 7, 2007 3:37 PM IST

AHMEDABAD (Reuters) - Nineteen rare Asiatic lions have drowned in India after
fallingvinto wells over the past five years, further endangering an animal
threatened by poachers and raising fresh concern about wildlife protection.

The news of the drownings follow the recent killing of three lions by poachers
in the Gir wildlife sanctuary, their only natural habitat in the world, located
in Gujarat.

Authorities are facing severe criticism for failing to protect the animals in Gir,
a sprawling 1,400 sq. km reserve.

-snip-

"The killing of more Asiatic lions in the Gir lion sanctuary is a national
disgrace," the Hindustan Times said in its editorial titled: "A roaring apathy."

"It highlights a deeper malaise afflicting India's wildlife parks, presided
over by indifferent bureaucrats and forest officials."

-snip-

Full article: http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-03-07T152835Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-290236-1.xml